Alwaght- The British government said it was recalling the Russian ambassador to London to make it clear it held Moscow "fully responsible" for the death of the Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny in prison on Friday, Reuters reported.
A statement published by the foreign ministry said that Navalny's death "must be investigated fully and transparently."
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron held the Russian President Vladimir Putin responsible for the incident.
Russian prison service announced the death of the jailed prominent opposition figure on Friday, saying the activist lost consciousness after a walk, and resuscitation efforts failed.
The 47-year-old began to feel unwell after a walk, and lost consciousness, according to a statement. Russian media outlets have indicated that doctors pronounced Navalny dead after 2pm local time.
“All the necessary resuscitation measures were carried out, but they failed to achieve a positive result,” the authorities outlined.
The cause of death is being established. However, according to an RT Russian service source, the opposition figure had a blood clot.
Navalny was jailed in early 2021, over a long-standing fraud case involving French retailer Yves Rocher. The previous summer he attracted major international attention after an alleged poisoning in Siberia, which led to his transfer to Germany. Upon returning, he was sentenced to the first of several prison terms.
Western media have launched an uproar over his death, pointing the fingers of blame directly to Putin. Western politicians, too, held the president responsible.
Western leaders from the US President Joe Biden to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrel a few hours after the announcement rushed to criticize Moscow with which they are at war in Ukraine.
But the Kremlin rejected the Western claims, saying that the West is riding on the waves caused by his death to criticize Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the reaction from Western leaders to news of the Kremlin critic's death was "hysterical" and their statements were "absolutely unacceptable," the TASS news agency reported.